Cooke House & Legacy Gardens
Built in 1766
The Cooke House
& Legacy Gardens
51 School Street in Edgartown
COOKE HOUSE & LEGACY GARDENS
51 School Street, Edgartown MA
Step into the charm of Edgartown’s past at the Cooke House and Legacy Gardens, where history and horticulture meet. Built in 1766, the historic Cooke House is open to visitors from June through August, while the surrounding Legacy Gardens are open daily, year-round—from dawn to dusk—offering a peaceful place to stroll, picnic, or simply pause, just moments from downtown Edgartown at the corner of Cooke and School Streets.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SEASONALLY
COOKE HOUSE & LEGACY GARDENS
One of the oldest houses on Martha’s Vineyard still in its original location, the Cooke House is a rare example of unaltered vernacular Island architecture. Built facing Edgartown Harbor—now obscured by later development—the home once offered sweeping harbor views. When Thomas Cooke Jr. inherited the house in the 1790s, he used an upstairs chamber as a customs office, taking full advantage of the vantage point. Today, the Harborview Garden features an artistic rendering of what the Cookes may have seen from those upstairs windows.
Whether you’re attending a program, exploring the plantings, or simply taking in the view, the Cooke House and Legacy Gardens offer a thoughtful place to connect with Vineyard history—rooted in the past, and still growing today.
Photography by Ray Ewing